Mamels life animal

In mammals, females dissolve parts of themselves to feed their babies. Or more science-y “mammalian females pay high energetic costs for reproduction because the synthesis of milk requires mobilization of bodily reserves to nourish developing young.” Photo by Pascal Gagneux  BACKGROUND In evolutionary biology, lots of research has been dedicated to understanding how mothers direct care and nourishment to their young in relation to their own physical, social, and psychological condition and where they are at in their reproductive careers (first baby, second baby, etc). Infant characteristics may also influence how mothers invest, and the characteristic of greatest interest to evolutionary biologists has been whether they are rearing a son or a daughter. Biologists have proposed numerous hypotheses “for sex-biased maternal investment,” but the most well-known and investigated remains the Trivers-Willard hypothesis. Trivers and Willard hypothesized that a female, depending on if she is in

On January 31, 2013 I was invited to give a mini-talk to Harvard undergraduates about a "Big Idea." Although I wasn't able to talk specifically about my own research, I was able to highlight why milk is awesome, why everyone should care, and how that caring should translate in the community. I have embedded the 12 minute video and the text (minus the flubs) that goes along with it below. click video to play “Why Mammals Suck”   Imagine a magic potion. This potion includes all of your calories and water. It has fatty acids to build your brain, glucose to fuel it, amino acids to build muscles, minerals to build your bones. vitamins, immunofactors, hormones. The things you need at the times you need them. Oh, and one last thing, your mom makes it just for you. This magic potion, of course, is milk and is why mammals suck.  The synthesis of milk by mammary glands is the defining characteristic of our mammalian class- its where we get out name. Dobzhansky said “ Nothi